Seagate Momentus 2.5" 7200rpm 100GB in an 12" iBook 1Ghz?

[ZLurker]

Hi!
Im thinking of upgrading my iBook.
I have decided to get 1Gb stick ram=1.25Gb tot.

Im also thinking of getting a new hard drive and the highest priority is performance.
I've been looking at the Seagate Momentus 2.5" 7200rpm 100GB Drive.
Its reviewed here at BF:
http://www.barefeats.com/hard56.html

Anyone knows about:
* i can put it in my iBook?
* is it quiet? (29dB when active)

Anyone bought this drive? Any iBook owners?
Anyone got any tips for another drive with fast performance?
Id rather buy a 80Gb fast disk than a 160Gb slow disk.

Thanks for any comments!
ZLurker

 

[Makosuke]

I have one in my MacBook Pro, and I can at least say that it's functionally silent--I've never even heard it under regular use.

I see no reason it shouldn't work in an iBook, but you can always have a look at the drive compatibility database over at XLR8YourMac.com if you want to be sure--the combination you're interested in is probably in there.

Oh, and it's worth noting that due to density issues under many circumstances the "slower," larger capacity notebook drives actually perform about as well as the 7200RPM ones. They don't do as well with random seeks, because of the spindle speed, but the higher platter density means about as many bits moving under the head even at the slower rotational speed.

 

[ZLurker]

I have one in my MacBook Pro, and I can at least say that it's functionally silent--I've never even heard it under regular use.

Good to know! I like it really silent, thats one of the best benefits of my iBook. Its dead silent! Did you install it yourself or is it standard in the MBP if you upgrade at the apple store?

I see no reason it shouldn't work in an iBook, but you can always have a look at the drive compatibility database over at XLR8YourMac.com if you want to be sure--the combination you're interested in is probably in there.

I will look now!

Oh, and it's worth noting that due to density issues under many circumstances the "slower," larger capacity notebook drives actually perform about as well as the 7200RPM ones. They don't do as well with random seeks, because of the spindle speed, but the higher platter density means about as many bits moving under the head even at the slower rotational speed.

I didnt know that.

Thanks alot for the reply! It was very helpfull.

 

[Makosuke]

Good to know! I like it really silent, thats one of the best benefits of my iBook. Its dead silent! Did you install it yourself or is it standard in the MBP if you upgrade at the apple store?

It's a BTO option on the MBPs, which is how I got it. Not that I specifically picked the Seagate--they only say "7200RPM", but this one at least is that Momentus.

I did think of one other thing that I forgot to mention; it sounds like you have a newer iBook, but I'm not exactly sure when (or even if) the iBooks' controllers started supporting drives over 128GB. It's probably ok, but XLR8YourMac is again the place to look for tips--you can almost certainly find out there. I'd make sure before I spent the scratch for a 160GB+ drive. If it doesn't support drives that large, then obviously the 7200RPM will offer you the highest performance of the options open to you.